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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
Before Skylark, I don’t think I’ve ever read any type of Hungarian literature, and definitely never heard of Dezso Kosztolányi. To be honest, how much I enjoyed Kosztolányi’s story and style of writing was a surprise to me. The setting of Sarszeg was meant to be a bit bleak and uninviting but by the end of the novel, it was a place I wanted to visit myself. I also felt a connection to this story because as I began it, I was actually on the way to Germany, leaving my parents alone for the first time since I left for college. The situation the Vajkays were left in reminded me of my parents. However, they were left only for a week, which is how long the time-span of the novel, is.
Within a week, it’s clear the Vajkays, both Mother and Akos have rediscovered themselves in a way, eating heartily, drinking heavily, enjoying the company of high society, their old friends. Kosztolányi is able to paint such a vivid picture of the local restaurant scene and the gentleman’s society that I imagined the storyline as a rich movie in my head. I feel like I always learn so much about Austria and Vienna during this time that getting a thorough glimpse of Hungary was very satisfying. What was particularly satisfying was the descriptions of food by Kosztolányi. There are too many mouth-watering examples to cite here. However, the significance of a home-cooked meal in Hungarian culture is apparent, along with the importance of restaurant culture.
A majority of the story was following Akos and Mother around, and their struggle of reintegrating into society while Skylark is away. However, Skylark’s letter and then return was not only an emotional roller coaster ride, but such a heavy hitter in terms of the way I’d wish the book ended (happily, sappily and perfect, I suppose). I hoped Skylark would end up with a boyfriend of sorts and that she might move out and everyone would be happy and free. But, Kosztolányi brings reality back full force, revealing how truly dependent this family is on each other, in an almost unhealthy way.
Skylark’s unhappiness that is revealed to the reader is not the most upsetting part of this story to me. Akos’s admitting of how he finds Skylark to be ugly really got to me, and was definitely surprising in the midst of how the story was going. I wouldn’t have thought that was going to be his drunken confession. I think honesty is a part of the Hungarian culture and people that can be seen everywhere from art to music to politics even. While everything seems like a deception, I feel like most things are actually just out in the open, for people to deal with, if they want to. The judge’s wife’s affairs is one example along with the rest of the personal lives of the Panthers, of the awkward relationship between honesty and honor in this society.
I’ll conclude with a quote from Skylark that I feel lucky to have read, if not for meaning, just for the way it was written. It’s a bit strange out of context but I thought it was simply but still beautifully written:
“I,” she began in her thoughts, as we all do when thinking of ourselves. But this I was her, something, someone whose life she really lived. She was this I, in body and in soul, one with its very flesh, its memories, its past, present and future, all of which we seal into a single destiny each time we face ourselves and utter that tiny, unalterable word: “I.”
Within a week, it’s clear the Vajkays, both Mother and Akos have rediscovered themselves in a way, eating heartily, drinking heavily, enjoying the company of high society, their old friends. Kosztolányi is able to paint such a vivid picture of the local restaurant scene and the gentleman’s society that I imagined the storyline as a rich movie in my head. I feel like I always learn so much about Austria and Vienna during this time that getting a thorough glimpse of Hungary was very satisfying. What was particularly satisfying was the descriptions of food by Kosztolányi. There are too many mouth-watering examples to cite here. However, the significance of a home-cooked meal in Hungarian culture is apparent, along with the importance of restaurant culture.
A majority of the story was following Akos and Mother around, and their struggle of reintegrating into society while Skylark is away. However, Skylark’s letter and then return was not only an emotional roller coaster ride, but such a heavy hitter in terms of the way I’d wish the book ended (happily, sappily and perfect, I suppose). I hoped Skylark would end up with a boyfriend of sorts and that she might move out and everyone would be happy and free. But, Kosztolányi brings reality back full force, revealing how truly dependent this family is on each other, in an almost unhealthy way.
Skylark’s unhappiness that is revealed to the reader is not the most upsetting part of this story to me. Akos’s admitting of how he finds Skylark to be ugly really got to me, and was definitely surprising in the midst of how the story was going. I wouldn’t have thought that was going to be his drunken confession. I think honesty is a part of the Hungarian culture and people that can be seen everywhere from art to music to politics even. While everything seems like a deception, I feel like most things are actually just out in the open, for people to deal with, if they want to. The judge’s wife’s affairs is one example along with the rest of the personal lives of the Panthers, of the awkward relationship between honesty and honor in this society.
I’ll conclude with a quote from Skylark that I feel lucky to have read, if not for meaning, just for the way it was written. It’s a bit strange out of context but I thought it was simply but still beautifully written:
“I,” she began in her thoughts, as we all do when thinking of ourselves. But this I was her, something, someone whose life she really lived. She was this I, in body and in soul, one with its very flesh, its memories, its past, present and future, all of which we seal into a single destiny each time we face ourselves and utter that tiny, unalterable word: “I.”
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loved it!!!! It was very light-hearted most of the time, but then came the emotional climax filled with existential dread and anger which really propelled the quality of the book.
Skylark is a woman in her mid-30's, an "old maid", living with her mother and father. They've fallen into such a groove that they have become pathetically dependent on each other. Skylark is also butt ugly, which has given her family much shame in not being able to marry her off. They still save up for her dowry, but try not to harbor any hope for her marrying off, as they have been disappointed many times before.
In the beginning of the book, Skylark leaves for a week to go visit a relative. We do not see any more of her until the last chapter, when she returns. However, her presence is felt in her absence: we see just how this family is tied together, and how easily it falls apart; mother and father seem not to live but to be carried along by their re-enforced beliefs and daily patterns.
For a while, Skylark almost seems like the parent here, and mother and father are like the kids who are cautiously experimenting with 1. eating out 2. going to the theater 3. talking with their friends who they have not talked to since they have isolated themselves in their own self sufficient home 4. partying and drinking 5. playing the piano 6. getting drunk 7. gambling
Of course, even while having fun, they deny that it is fun or good. These are people who, when faced with a problem, try to look the other way. Out of sight, out of mind. They will not talk about any of their problems directly. But you really feel for them, they are so pathetic, and so sad, but wanting happiness desperately.
The rest of the town is not any better. They cavort and get drunk and gamble every Thursday night and don't retire until Friday night. You could see why the family withdrew to themselves after awhile. The writing is simple and elegant, and didn't feel heavy. I loved the chapter titles, especially the last one: "XIII: in which, on the eighth of September 1899, the novel is concluded, without coming to an end" and it's true. Things will probably go on as they always have.
In the beginning of the book, Skylark leaves for a week to go visit a relative. We do not see any more of her until the last chapter, when she returns. However, her presence is felt in her absence: we see just how this family is tied together, and how easily it falls apart; mother and father seem not to live but to be carried along by their re-enforced beliefs and daily patterns.
For a while, Skylark almost seems like the parent here, and mother and father are like the kids who are cautiously experimenting with 1. eating out 2. going to the theater 3. talking with their friends who they have not talked to since they have isolated themselves in their own self sufficient home 4. partying and drinking 5. playing the piano 6. getting drunk 7. gambling
Of course, even while having fun, they deny that it is fun or good. These are people who, when faced with a problem, try to look the other way. Out of sight, out of mind. They will not talk about any of their problems directly. But you really feel for them, they are so pathetic, and so sad, but wanting happiness desperately.
The rest of the town is not any better. They cavort and get drunk and gamble every Thursday night and don't retire until Friday night. You could see why the family withdrew to themselves after awhile. The writing is simple and elegant, and didn't feel heavy. I loved the chapter titles, especially the last one: "XIII: in which, on the eighth of September 1899, the novel is concluded, without coming to an end" and it's true. Things will probably go on as they always have.
I liked the chapter titles. You never see titles like that any more, I wonder why
"He stood for some minutes before the gate with all the patience of a lover waiting for the appearance of his beloved. But he was waiting for no one. He was no lover in the worldly sense; the only love he knew was that of divine understanding, of taking a whole life into his arms, stripping it of flesh and bone, and feeling into its depths as if they were his own. From this, the greatest pain, and the greatest happiness is born: the hope that we too will one day be understood, strangers will accept our words, our lives, as if they were their own."
Chapter 7, p 112
"In a state of excitement , things that normally go unnoticed can seem pregnant with significance. At such times even inanimate objects - a lamppost, a gravel path, a bush - can take on a life of their own, primordial, reticent and hostile, stinging our hearts with their indifference and making us recoil with a start. And the very sight of people at such times, blindly pursuing their lonely, selfish ends, can suddenly remind us of our own irrevocable solitude, a single word or gesture petrifying in our souls into an eternal symbol of the utter arbitrariness of life."
Chapter 11, p 189
Chapter 7, p 112
"In a state of excitement , things that normally go unnoticed can seem pregnant with significance. At such times even inanimate objects - a lamppost, a gravel path, a bush - can take on a life of their own, primordial, reticent and hostile, stinging our hearts with their indifference and making us recoil with a start. And the very sight of people at such times, blindly pursuing their lonely, selfish ends, can suddenly remind us of our own irrevocable solitude, a single word or gesture petrifying in our souls into an eternal symbol of the utter arbitrariness of life."
Chapter 11, p 189
Like the other NYRB Classic novels I have read, Skylark is more proof that this reading series is carefully curated. Though slight (just 220 pages), this mostly comic novel glimpses the secret and mysterious hearts of a mother, father, and their middle-aged, unmarried, unremarkable daughter. When she leaves for a one-week holiday, routines and long-held grudges break open, and as the parents venture from their home and participate in the comings and goings of old friends, we readers are given a column of light by which to see vibrant life in the casings of a provincial turn-of-the-century town.
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A delightfully well crafted read. i especially enjoyed how the artful wordplay enhanced the narrative instead of distracting. I giggled out loud.